Atonement's Atrophy
by eidolondestroyer
Summary: For Riku, there was no hesitation. On his road to the dawn, he would redeem himself. Whatever was necessary, he would atone for his sins. PostCoM, preKHII, SPOILERS abound.


**Disclaimer** – I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of the numerous copyrighted materials placed within Kingdom Hearts. None of the following is intended for any purpose other than entertainment, and is not to be used for any sort of gain, fiscal or otherwise.

**Author's Note** – This will hopefully be the only note I need, so to make sure I don't need another one I'll make this one extra long. Now, to start, it must be noted that there will spoilers. So consider this a massive **Spoiler Warning**. I'm quite confident that completion of KHII's intro, i.e. the never-ending segment with Roxas, is the only requisite to go through just about all of this without fear of any spoilers. Near the ending, the only way to avoid spoilers will be to all but finish the game, but the end won't come for some time, so you needn't worry about that. For those who are wondering, this prologue will be about one-fifth the length of a normal chapter (hopefully). And in case you're wondering, the actual body of the story will be written in a very different manner. Specifically, there will be actual narration instead of just a bombardment of imagery. I just sort of wanted to try this out. Oh, and the prologue comes from Deep Dive.

With that official business out of the way, I thank you very much for reading, and beg of you to review. It's the only way I'll learn. Think of reviews as fuel, and think of me as a fuel-guzzling SUV. Fill 'er up.

**Atonement's Atrophy  
**_Prologue_

Rain hammered down on the city, each tiny droplet crashing down upon concrete building and paved walk. It was not the rain of other worlds. It was not solemn. It did not cascade down gently from a mournful sky. No. It was fury. It was judgment, a ferocious assault of an empty world upon its empty inhabitants.

_A single step forward. Something so simple, so easy._

Neon lights burned on even in the elements. Lights flickered and dimmed but never failed. It was not the happy glow of other lights. It was not inviting. It was not a brilliant display of celestial illumination clearing out the darkness. No. It was gloomy. It was a summons, not dispelling the shadows but gently calling out to them, bidding the lost inhabitants of the world, of all worlds, towards their empty solace.

_Standing upon the abyss. Nervous apprehension arresting the body from taking another step._

A world that did not so much live as passively exist tensed in the wake of a being who couldn't even claim passive existence. Each step of this shell agonized the world, and it cried out in its fury as the twisted non-existence continued to violate it with each and every step. But the cries fell deaf upon the shell, whose being had lost the means to hear such pain. So the shell continued onward, each resolute step distancing itself from the others, and approaching some truth, whatever it may be.

_Waiting. Anticipating the approach of a power not meant to be, of a conflict meant to restore long absent order._

Others heard the cry of the world. Another existence not truly meant to exist, the twisted heart arising to confront the twisted body. The dark beings did not appear from nowhere as in other worlds. They almost seemed to grow out of the empty husk of the pained world. At once they were its invaders, probing its depths for some heart to take, as well as its defenders, coming forth to put an end to the monstrosity before them.

_Watching. Observing tiny slaves to dark instinct mass and arrive to be slaughtered by a slave to existence._

No fear came from the shell. No anger, no hate. There was a purity in the nothingness. It was resolve, a sheer magnitude of will that filled the shell, driving forth each step, each action. All it saw were obstacles to the truth it needed. Things to be destroyed. And power flowed through the shell, coursing through each empty space where once there was meaning.

_"Where's Sora?" An inquiry rising from the still abyss. Forces beyond comprehension rising to conquer opposition._

Each blade slid easily from the nothingness into the nothing's hands. The shell grasped the keys to its memories and commanded it, making both the light and dark it remembered but did not know bow and attack its assailants. The dark beings perished before the blades, and continued pressing forward, their numbers not diminishing.

_Serene peace, as the fury of a world not meant to exist, a darkness not meant to exist, and a shell not meant to exist collided._

Even in mastery of an unfathomable power, the shell began to wither before immeasurable darkness. In stark refusal of defeat, it leapt out of the fray. Shadows massed and regrouped, the maligned hearts not willing to let go so easily of the prey. The shell found its exit. High above, another who would fight the shadows. A complete being. Something quite foreign to the world. The shell rapidly went up, scaling through the darkness to an unexpected ally. They would clash quite soon, the shell and the complete one, just as they had done in the past. But to arrive to that point, to the tumultuous struggle of titans, the minute existences needed to be removed first.

_Harmonious unity. Waiting to embrace without fear the darkness._

Riku leaned forward, diving into an inescapable darkness as the void that was Roxas hurled forth Oblivion.


End file.
